SLC

Since the race was in Salt Lake City and it was Dino's first time there (my second) we decided to see the sites. Well, the Mormon sites at least. First up was the Convention Center. We walked around inside and looked at the art exhibit there were having then we got a guided tour.

David was in awe of the size of the inside. Gotta say, although I've been in there before, it does seem a whole lot bigger when it's empty. I explained to David that this was the building we see on TV during conference. He paused for a moment then asked, "then why isn't the prophet sitting up there?"

Dino & David.

Checking out the other side of water. hehe.

My little family on top of the conference center.

David & me on top of the conference center

Parker & Dave with the beautiful SLC Temple in the background.

The 2 cutest boys in the whole world posing in front of the SLC Temple.

Not sure if it was 'allowed' but Dave & the boys had a nice game of tag on the lawn of the tabernacle.

They needed it. A boy can stay quiet and keep his hands to himself for only a short period of time!

The next day was the race so we went 'home' early to get some sleep. But since it was Dino's birthday weekend also, we decided to celebrate it the next day. We headed out to The Mayan. Dave had always talked about The Mayan. He liked the atmosphere. He often says he would like to open a restaurant like it in Cali. I gotta agree, the vibe was fun. But the food...not so much.

Dino really likes water.

After The Mayan we went to the Down East Basics store. ('Cause that's where you go if you're a Mormon Woman who lives in California and visiting Utah.) On the side of the shopping center was this cute little walk way with a bridge and a small river. We had to stop for some photo ops, it was just too cute!

My 3 main men.

Pretty cool (& somewhat creepy) tree.

Never a dull moment

Daddy always knows the way.

That's the end of the road, and this post!

The Bailey's

Hi, my name is Cindy. And I'm a blog-not-updater-a-holic. I'm long winded when it comes to writing in my blog so it takes me forever to update it because I know it will take a while and I can't seem to find the time. Or more like I choose to do other less productive things. But the end of my procrastination has arrived. Today I will finally update you on another part of our trip to SLC that we took back in APRIL! I told you, I procrastinate.

On our way there and on our way back we stopped and visited our friends the Bailey's in Logandale NV. Not sure where it is? Don't worry, neither did we! But let me tell you, it is such a cute small community! It makes us want to move there. The fact that the Bailey's live there helps that desire grow. Jono Bailey served with Dave in his mission in Mexico. He was Dave's favorite companion. I can totally see why, he's a riot. And Becca is his beautiful, totally cool wife. They have 5 kids, 3 boys & twin girls...who are SO DANG CUTE! We had so much fun visiting with them, so much so that David & Parker STILL talk about it over 2 months later!

The main reason is the 'Bailey Compound'. They have a backyard that every little boy who's looking for adventure would call their dream! It comes complete with a mysterious toppled over building/shack, cool climbing trees, 'poison water' river and HUGE hills to scale and deserted rail road tracks to follow. Our boys had a blast! And Zach showed us how to descend from a tree using only a vine! Way cool.

This is Maddy & Abby. When I was there I could tell them apart, slightly, but not so much in the picture. Aren't they so stinking adorable!?

These trees were so cool, even I had to climb them!

Dino, giving me a sad 'puppy' face because he wanted me to let him take that dog home.

David & Zach up a tree.
Tarzan (AKA Zach) descending from the tree.
Throwing rocks into the poison water and watching them disintegrate. Okay, so maybe the last part was just our imagination.

Waiting for the train.
Taking the road less traveled.

Joey, Parker & Dave on top of the world!

This is as close as I got to getting all 5 boys in one pic at the same time. (L-R: David, Danny, Parker, Zach & Joey)

I took this pic for Dino so he can remember Taysha. hehe.

We LOVED visiting the Bailey's! Now we're ready to have them come visit us!! The beach is calling your name!!

Weekend Wedding Away

My (Cindy's) really good friend, Clarissa, got married on Oct. 12th in San Diego. Dave & I took the opportunity to make it weekend-alone-away out of it. Grandma Fletcher was gracious enough to take David & Parker for the weekend. I cannot begin to tell you how excited they both were. The talked about it every day leading up to the weekend. They kept asking me if "tonight" was the night they get to go to Grandma's. They just couldn't wait. (Dino was pretty excited too, lol) The first night away we stayed with my BIL Tony in Murrieta. We attended his school's fundraiser for the Invisible Children foundation which he is raising money for. It was held at Basken Robbin's...what a great night...ice cream and help out a worthy cause! After that we headed out to his house and went to sleep. The next morning we went to breakfast with Tony and his kids Sofia & Lucas. We were very excited to see them, it had been too long...like a month! After breakfast we headed out to San Diego to check into our hotel & do some sight seeing. First we went miniature golfing. It was fun! Dave totally kicked my butt at it...or did I let him win? Which ever, it was still a good time. I kept thinking of the kids the whole time, thinking they would really enjoy doing that. After that we went to the mall and walked around and then to dinner at a really tasty Mexican restaurant in Pacific Beach called Fred's. We had a really nice time together, but I gotta admit, it was weird not having any kids around!!

The next day we headed out to Clarissa & Paul's wedding. It was a blast. Our good friend Matt Kabel DJ'd the event so we got to spend time with him & his wife, Jill, too. Clarissa looked beautiful and we were so happy to see her and Paul finally married! It was a great weekend!